Season 6, Episode 1: Earth
by jayni1000
Summary: Written as a continuation to the series. Atlantis is stuck on earth, and the team takes time to relax.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. I just borrow them. :D_

_Just a tiny intro, not really a chapter. Please R&R!_

xxxxx

Ronon stood with his friends looking at the view. He'd been on earth before, but this time was different. There were no monsters to chase, no friends in danger. He looked over at Amelia. God, she was beautiful. He'd never noticed her until the day Michael infiltrated Atlantis. There she was, the last person he'd expected to come to his aid, but she'd come to his rescue, pinned against the wall. There weren't many times he'd needed saving, but Michael's men had taken him by surprise. Since that day, he hadn't had any time to spend with her, but he'd wanted to. He wanted to learn more about this surprising woman. When the Wraith had stabbed him, and he knew he was going to die, he'd seen all his friends' faces. But the last face he'd seen had been hers. He smiled and reached his hand towards hers.


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. I just borrow them. :D_

_Please R&R. My first attempt at a fanfic, so please criticize!_

xxxxx

"Mind if I join you?" Woolsey asked as he approached Sheppard and his team with a tray of food.

"Of course, Mr. Woolsey!" Teyla replied with a smile.

"I trust you are all taking the time to enjoy yourselves? Teyla, Ronon, what do you think of earth?"

"Rodney and Jennifer took myself and Kanaan to…I believe you call it a mall…to shop for Torren John. It was quite an experience! I'm afraid Torren will be very spoiled if we remain here much longer." Teyla smiled. She loved the freedom here on earth, the freedom to live without the constant fear of the Wraith. But she was eager to get back home to her people. She and her friends were safe here, but Pegasus was not.

Ronon grunted. "It's nice." Sheppard snorted and threw a french fry at Ronon.

"Ha! He means Amelia's nice." Sheppard chuckled. "You're going to get soft, Ronon. We haven't sparred since we got here! He spends all his time with her." Sheppard directed the last statement at the rest of the group.

"Any word on when we can get back home?" Teyla asked.

"No, unfortunately. Dr. McKay has been spending all of his time trying to figure out a power source sufficient to fly Atlantis. The ZPM's have enough power remaining to power the main systems, but unfortunately will run out in approximately three weeks. I'm afraid it'll be a while." Mr. Woolsey replied. "But we WILL get back to Pegasus eventually, if McKay has anything to do with it. So you should all enjoy your time off as much as possible."

"Hey, ya know, you could probably use some time off too." Sheppard raised an eyebrow and looked at Woolsey. He didn't look like he'd slept in days.

"I will, just as soon as I manage to convince the IOA that the city's residence here isn't permanent. They've been insisting on me transferring personnel elsewhere. Some of my people have already been sent to Area 51, including Dr. Zalanka."

"Ya, I'm sure we'll have everybody back together soon enough. It's just a matter of time until McKay figures out how to get us back."

xxxxx

"I'll be off in a few minutes, Ronon. I'll meet you on the East Pier." Amelia shut off the radio and smiled. She'd liked the Satedan for some time, but he'd never noticed her before. She was just the girl behind the control station. She had decided to take a chance and had dragged him out to the dock to look at the view when they'd first arrived on earth. He'd stood there looking at the view for a few minutes. Then slowly and ever so carefully, he had moved his hand on top of hers. When she'd looked over at him, she'd caught a glimpse of a smile.

She visited him every day in the infirmary, and he'd asked just about every question that could be asked about her life. She'd told him about her home back in Michigan, her four sisters, Mom and Dad. She was the first person in their family to join the military, so it had been difficult at first to be away from them. But now she considered Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy her home.

He had been released from the infirmary yesterday, so she'd agreed to show him around Earth. Well, better enjoy the time I've got with him, she thought to herself. A man like that couldn't possibly be interested in a girl like me. He's so…and I'm so…uninteresting. Just the girl behind the control panel. She was good at projecting a very independent, confident person, and she usually was. But for some reason with Ronon, she always questioned everything she did. She didn't want to mess this one up. She liked him too much.

xxxxx

Ronon waited eagerly on the East Pier. He liked spending time with Amelia. The only thing that worried him was if he managed to scare her off. For some reason, every woman on Atlantis, and a lot of the men, for that matter, scattered whenever he walked into a room. Amelia had never been like that, though. She even came to visit him in the infirmary every day. This could work, he thought to himself and smiled. Just the thought of her made him smile, and that was a new experience for him. Smiling. He liked it.

He took a deep breath and could smell her flowery perfume. Looking up, he saw her walking towards him. "Ready?" she asked. He nodded, and they walked together towards the boat. Woolsey had made arrangements for everyone in Atlantis to spend some time at home, and had made arrangements for everyone's transport. Ronon, of course, didn't have anywhere to go, so Amelia had invited him to come to Michigan with her. She was staying with her sister, who had an extra guest room he could stay in. At first she was afraid he'd say no, and that she was being too forward, but he'd immediately agreed, so they'd made arrangements with Woolsey. A short boat ride, a taxi, and they were at the airport waiting on their flight.

Ronon had never been in an airport before. There were people everywhere, and it made him uncomfortable. He felt even less comfortable, because he was completely unarmed. Sheppard had talked to him before he left, making sure that all his knives were left in Atlantis. Apparently security in an airport was very tight, and no one was allowed to be armed. Amelia could see his discomfort as they sat in their tight seats on the airplane.

"What's wrong?"

"Too many people, and Sheppard wouldn't let me take any weapons."

The flight was an hour and a half. Amelia fell asleep about halfway there, and Ronon sat contentedly with her head resting on his shoulder. He turned his head and breathed in her scent. Then he smiled and slipped his hand into hers.


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. I just borrow them. :D_

_I'm mostly focusing on the Ronon/Amelia relationship, but everyone gets a scene or two. Fluff piece, definitely._

xxxxx

"Wait," Ronon said. Amelia stopped and looked up at him. She'd seen him getting more and more tense the closer they got to her home. They had just got out of the cab, and were walking up to her parents' front door.

"What's wrong?" Amelia smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

"Well, what am I doing here? I don't know your family, and…what if they don't like me? I scare everybody in Atlantis, what if I scare them? And what if they ask questions? Where am I from? What do I do? _I'm from a different galaxy, and I kill Wraith_ won't exactly work." Ronon looked down at her with a worried expression.

Amelia laughed. "That's the longest thing you've ever said! And it'll be fine. I'm not afraid of you, am I? Or your team, or Dr. Keller, or Lorne, or Woolsey…okay, maybe Woolsey. My point is, stop worrying. They'll like you, I'm sure." She smiled up at him, and pulled him towards the door. He hadn't let go of her hand since the plane.

The door swung open and people started pouring out. Amelia was soon smothered in hugs and "How are you?"'s. Ronon stood back and watched, smiling. So much love. He missed having a family. After a few minutes, the Banks family seemed to notice that she wasn't alone. "Mom, Dad, everybody, this is Ronon Dex. We got leave at the same time, so I invited him over. He doesn't have a family, so I figured he could borrow you guys for a while."

Before he knew what was happening, Mrs. Banks ran over to him and gave him a giant hug. "Nice to meet you! Poor dear, no family…" She pulled out of the hug and looked up at him. "Well, you're a tall one, aren't you?" He smiled awkwardly and grunted. Soon he was overwhelmed with introductions and hand-shaking, and then more hugs. Mr. and Mrs. Banks were there, Amelia's four sisters, and the youngest sister's husband. He and Amelia were pulled into the house, forced onto the couch, and offered every kind of treat Mrs. Banks could think of. Ronon sat and watched as Amelia and her family talked late into the night. He'd never seen Amelia so happy.

xxxxx

"Dr. Keller to the infirmary," a voice sounded over the radio.

"On my way," she replied and headed across the city. She'd just arrived back from a few days with her father in Chippewa Falls. It had been a much needed visit. "What's wrong?" she asked as she hurried into the infirmary.

"It's Dr. McKay, he passed out." She felt a knot in her stomach as she ran towards his bed. The nurse continued, "He's fine! Just exhaustion. He's been working non-stop since we got here…we just thought you should know. The only time he took off was to spend with you and Teyla on your shopping trip."

She reached his bed just as another nurse was reviving him. "Rodney! What's the matter with you! I told you yesterday that you needed sleep! You gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he replied groggily.

"That's it! You're confined to the infirmary for the next 24 hours. Sleep, Rodney. That's an order from the CMO of Atlantis, understood?"

"Okay," he said as he fell asleep.

Jennifer's face softened as she took his hand. He looked so peaceful. Ever since their arrival on earth, he'd been searching for a way to get back. The ZPM's were nearly depleted. The entire Atlantis expedition was counting on him to find a way back to the Pegasus Galaxy. While everyone else was off enjoying themselves, he had stayed and worked. She smiled and climbed up into the bed. She fell asleep with her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

xxxxx

Teyla sat at the edge of her bed, holding Torren in her arms. He was the most beautiful baby she'd ever seen. She looked up at Kanaan, who had spent the last hour unpacking the array of things that she, Jennifer, Rodney, and Kanaan had purchased for Torren. She felt guilty about how happy she was. Her son was safe, what more could she want? She was almost tempted to remain here, on earth, where her son would be forever safe. No Wraith to worry about, no Bola Kai, nothing. Certainly, earth had its dangers, but they were nothing in comparison. She had been thinking of it more and more lately. But she knew she had to go back. Pegasus was her home, right? She had friends there to protect…but her son…

Kanaan walked over to the bed and sat beside his wife. "What troubles you?" He could see that she was conflicted about something, but he had no idea what. They had never been more safe.

Teyla sighed. "Kanaan, I have been thinking. Michael is gone, but there will be others. Would it not be safer for Torren to remain here, on earth?"

Ah, now I understand, Kanaan thought to himself. "Teyla, Torren needs his mother. Growing up here on earth would separate our family…I don't believe that it would be the right choice. Myself and Torren will return with you when the time comes." Teyla looked up at Kanaan, and he could see the guilt in her eyes. "…you would wish to remain as well. I see." He reached down towards Torren, and touched his cheek.

"It would be so much safer for us! I have fought against the Wraith for so long…perhaps we could remain here and be a family, together and safe!"

"Teyla, love, you are an Athosian. Could you raise Torren here, knowing that we abandoned our people? Could you wake up every day knowing that Colonel Sheppard and his team were in danger, and that you were not there to help? Teyla, these people are out best chance of beating the Wraith. We need them, and they need you."

Teyla sat in silence for a long while, looking down at the baby in her arms. "It is hard. Seeing what these people have. To live their lives without fear, never knowing the dangers others face to keep their lives as they are."

Kanaan smiled. "Yes, it is difficult. But you, my love, are stronger than anyone I know. We must continue working with the Lantians until every Wraith is dead. Earth is not even safe, as is proven by recent events. I have faith that you and I will see the day come when Pegasus is safe. Heroes are not born often, and when they are, it is a sign of great change. And you, dearest love, are a hero." He put his arms around his wife and kissed her forehead.

Teyla smiled. "You have a lot of faith in me, Kanaan. I wish I had your strength."

Kanaan took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "You may borrow it whenever you have need of it."

xxxxx


	4. Chapter 4

_I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. I just borrow them. :D_

xxxxx

"Colonel John Sheppard," said John. He reached out a hand, and the young lady took it.

"Well, Colonel John Sheppard, it's nice to meet you! Colonel? Is that army?" said the incredibly hot brunette that Sheppard was hitting on.

He shook his head. "Air force, I'm a pilot." Then he gave her his best smile.

"Oh I see! Well, like I said, nice to meet you." Then she turned and walked away. John grumbled. He had nothing to do with his time off. His usual sidekick had gone off and found a pretty little technician, and he just HAD to spend his time with her. "I hope her family hates him…that…abandoning his best friend for a girl backstabber!" The bartender looked up.

"You want another beer?"

"Sure." John wasn't sure what to do with his time off. He'd gone and seen his brother, but that got awkward quick. He'd never been comfortable in any of his family's huge mansions. Unlike his brother, who was the businessy type. Sheppard ended up just going back to San Diego, which was where Atlantis was cloaked. The Navy had a base there, so the IOA decided it was as good a place as any. They weren't sure what would happen when the ZPM's ran out. They were going quickly, since the cloak wasn't meant to be ran 24 hours a day. Hopefully McKay figured something out before the cloak failed.

The IOA had very little faith that McKay could find a new power source in time, so many of the people from Atlantis were being reassigned. The military members were quickly disappearing, having transfer orders. His home was slowly being ripped apart, and he didn't know what to do. Woolsey was doing his best to keep as many people as possible, and had continual meetings with the IOA trying to convince them that McKay could come up with a solution. Unfortunately, they were the IOA, and they pretty much didn't care what anybody said. Sheppard couldn't imagine living life anywhere but on Atlantis with his team. What would Ronon do on earth? Sure, he seemed to be enjoying his time off with Amelia, but he knew the big guy. He'd eventually want to kill something. And SG-1 really didn't need any more teams. He took another drink and sighed. Flying choppers wasn't nearly as fun as puddle jumpers.

"Colonel John Sheppard?" said a voice behind him. He turned around. The brunette! Yay! "I just wanted to introduce you to my friend…she loves the Air Force." She winked, then turned around. "Jane!" At that, an even more beautiful blonde turned around and walked towards them. John smiled and introduced himself.

"Hear you like the Air Force!" he said in his most charming voice.

"OH absolutely, especially pilots," she said.

Yes!!!!!!!! Finally, some good news, Sheppard thought to himself.

xxxxx

"So, what's on the menu for today?" Amelia asked her mom. Ronon was still asleep. Her parents had insisted that he stay with them. He fell asleep on the couch last night, and didn't seem to want to wake up for anything. Her sisters had shown up around 9 this morning, and they weren't exactly quiet.

"Well, tonight your sisters wan to take you and your _friend _out for some party time. Until then I guess we can just enjoy each other's company," her mom said. "About your friend, are you two…together?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure we're just friends."

"Really? I guess you haven't seen the way he looks at you. But…I don't know, he seems kind of…quiet. What's he do?"

"Same as me, kind of. He contracts out with the military. You know I can't say exactly what, Mom."

"I know, I know, confidential and all that."

They were interrupted by a scream coming from the living room. Amelia recognized it as Ronon, and ran to the couch followed by her startled mother. Ronon was laying on the couch, sweat covering his body, and clenching his fists together. He let out another scream. "He's still asleep," her mother observed. "That's quite the nightmare."

Amelia reached down and touched his shoulder. "Wake up, Ronon," she whispered in his ear. He bolted up and jumped off the couch, looking around wildly. "You were having a nightmare."

Ronon could see the concern in Amelia's eyes. "Sorry," he said and looked down.

Mrs. Banks jumped in, "You need a shower! You're sweating all over the place." With that, she pushed him towards the bathroom and grabbed a towel. With a smile, she shoved him into the bathroom and gave him his bag. Amelia stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Have those a lot." Ronon replied with a shrug.

"Um, okay. Well, I'll leave you alone then."

He reached down to his bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt that Sheppard had bought him. "Wait."

Amelia turned around with her hand on the handle, and raised an eyebrow.

"Just, thanks, for waking me up." He reached out and touched her face gently.

"No problem," she smiled. "Ronon, I know you've been through a lot, but I just want you to know that you're safe here. You need to enjoy your time off, okay? I know my family's a little overwhelming, but just ignore them."

"Okay," he stated simply. For a moment, Amelia thought he was going to kiss her. He lowered his head towards hers slowly, then at the last moment pulled away. "Sorry. I'd better take a shower before your Mom starts hitting me with a spoon."

Amelia reached up and grabbed his hair, pulling his face down level with hers. "And she'd do it, too." Then she kissed him.

Ronon spent the rest of the week with her family, holding Amelia in his lap, and above all, smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

_I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. I just borrow them. :D_

_And I apologize. I'm not very sciency…so ignore me trying to explain sciency stuff. :/_

xxxxx

McKay woke up slowly. Where am I? he thought to himself. He rolled over and saw Jennifer asleep beside him, smiling a little in her sleep. He smiled and reached over to kiss her. She woke up too, and sat up smiling. "Rodney! You need to listen to me! If I say you need sleep, you listen to me! Coffee will only get you so far!" she worried, and put on her best pouty face.

"Sorry, Jen. I just don't want to let everybody down, and we don't have a lot of time left." He bolted up and asked, "How long have I been asleep!"

Marie walked over. "Dr. McKay, you've been asleep for about ten hours. Same as Dr. Keller." Marie smiled at them both and handed them each a tray of food.

"Thank you, Marie," replied Jennifer. "Rodney, you can't solve every problem you come across. Maybe we're just stuck here." She didn't like the thought of leaving everyone in the Pegasus Galaxy to the mercy of the Wraith, but she didn't like seeing her boyfriend exhausted either.

"No, Jen, we're going back. I just have to figure out how." Rodney frowned and picked at his food. He reached for his radio.

"What are you doing now?" Jennifer gave Rodney an exasperated look. "You need rest!"

"I just had plenty." Rodney frowned and turned his radio over in his hand. "Out of batteries."

"I'll recharge them," Jennifer replied and jumped out of bed with his radio.

"Recharge them?" McKay's expression was his _I've got a brilliant idea, I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner _look.

"What? What did you think of?" asked Jennifer. McKay jumped out of bed and started running towards Woolsey's office, Jennifer right behind him. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you at Woolsey's office! I'm so stupid!" McKay replied, out of breath. They ran into Woolsey's office, who jumped out of his chair.

"Did you find something?" Woolsey asked, a glimmer of hope creeping onto his face. Jennifer shrugged and looked at McKay, who was gasping in air, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes," he gasped. After a minute, he could breath normally. "I'm so stupid! Why didn't anybody think of this years ago? Did you ever wonder why the Ancients didn't leave any plans behind on how to BUILD a ZPM?" Rodney rambled.

"No, not really," replied Woolsey. He looked confused, and crossed his arm. "Dr. McKay, please just tell me what you've come up with."

"Okay, okay. Well, there is absolutely NO information on ZPM's in any of the ancient databases. It's like the Ancients just took them for granted, like they never had a reason to make any more! Jennifer just told me how to bring our ZPM's back to full power!" Jennifer looked confused. "You said you'd recharge my radio! We need to recharge them!" Rodney took a moment to look pleased with himself.

Woolsey frowned. "McKay, Earth doesn't have anything capable of recharging a ZPM, it requires too much power. And how would we ever find something compatible anyway?"

"You know how the puddle jumpers can seal off the pilot's section? Well, I never really thought about why…but it's for recharging the ZPM's! They draw their power from space's vacuum, right? So all we need to do is fly them out of the atmosphere, open the back hatch, and they'll recharge! Haven't you wondered why the puddle jumpers can fly for hours and hours in space without running out of juice, but if we fly around inside a planet's atmosphere for too long, they'll start losing power? That's why! While they're in space, they're recharging!"

Woolsey looked confused. "Are you sure this will work? Are there any adverse effects?"

"No, I don't see why there would be! We need to get Sheppard back here! We can have Atlantis ready to go in an hour! Oh, and what I said before about me being stupid, I didn't mean that…it's not like anybody else figured it out either."

"Rodney," Jennifer frowned.

"Sorry…humility and all that."

xxxxx

"Take her out, Colonel Sheppard," Woolsey said over the radio. It had taken a week to get everything together. Now that they were resupplied, and all his personnel had been returned to him, Atlantis was leaving Earth to return to Pegasus. They were using hyperspace, not the worm hole drive. Last time it had been under very different circumstances, and the worm hole drive still required a lot of work before he would be comfortable using it again.

"Yes, sir!" Colonel Sheppard replied over the radio.

xxxxx

"May I join you?" Woolsey asked.

"Of course," Teyla replied.

Atlantis was still a week out from their home in Pegasus. Walking around the city, Woolsey began to realize how much Atlantis and Pegasus meant to everyone there. Everywhere he was, he saw people smiling and happy to be returning home.

Woolsey sat down with Colonel Sheppard and his team. He looked around and saw he was not the only one present not on the team. Kanaan sat beside Teyla, Amelia sat with Ronon, holding hands.

"How is everyone doing?" Woolsey asked, scanning their faces. Everyone smiled and said they were fine.

Colonel Sheppard looked up. "I'm just happy to be back. I've got to admit I was a little miserable without you guys…well, until Jane came along, of course." John's face lit up with a big smile at the memory.

"Jane?" Teyla asked.

The End

_Sorry, this was very fluffy, and probably horribly written…my first attempt at writing. If you hated it, please tell me…I could use some criticism. :D Thanks!_


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